Woman in Texas Severs Both Legs Trying To Jump on Moving Cargo Train

A woman believed to be from Honduras severed both her legs when she tried to jump onto a moving cargo train in southern Texas, police said.

Several people were assisting the severely injured woman when police arrived at the scene in Harlingen, roughly 10 miles north of border town Los Indios.

Officers were told that the woman, who was in her early 20s, was "trying to jump onto a moving train but fell causing the train to sever both her legs."

Police provided first aid until emergency medical services and the fire department arrived. The injured woman was then rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.

Police said that she was out of surgery and in a stable condition as of the early hours of July 3. Her identity has not been released, but the Harlingen Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Larry Moore told KRGV-TV that the woman was from Honduras.

He added that the train involved in the incident was a cargo train.

Newsweek has reached out to the Harlingen Police Department for further information via email outside of regular working hours.

The incident took place in the area of 9th Street and Jefferson Avenue in Harlingen, a city located in the southern part of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley region.

The Union Pacific Railroad runs through the city, according to the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration, 8 people or vehicles are hit by trains daily.

And 96 per cent of rail-related fatalities in the past 10 years were due to trespassing incidents and highway-rail grade crossings, which is where a railway line crosses a road.

"Sadly, many of these deaths and injuries are preventable," the department said.

The agency advises pedestrians to avoid train accidents in several ways, including by staying alert and not being distracted by phones, music or conversation.

In May, another woman, Lisa Fitzgerald, lost a leg at Morristown station in New Jersey when she slipped and fell onto the tracks.

She required an above-the-knee amputation.

"And that's just what it was, just one trip, one slip," Fitzgerald told a local news site. "And that's all it took to go through."

This article will be updated when more information is available.